Posts in diy
Desk project

Previously beside my desk I had a keyboard stand and my Edirol PCR-50. The Edirol would invariably become covered in papers and garbage which really hampered my workflow. I also bought a second smaller keyboard that I wanted access to as well.

After complaining about it here and multiple trips through IKEA looking for something that would work or be adaptable, I realized I had a much larger table in my basement that I could cut down to my purposes and install a keyboard shelf into.

So after a lot of planning and some nervous work with a table-saw, here's my new side-table with the keyboard tray retracted:

Here it is with the keyboard tray extended:

The keyboard tray slides were around $36 and the pine board was $10. It works pretty well though I slightly brutalized the board cutting it to fit. I may sand and stain it later but I'm too lazy now.

The keyboard tray works well but I'm sure a better craftsman could have made it less wobbly when pushing it in.

But it does what I want. The large keyboard stays out of sight most of the time and I can't cover it with junk. The small keyboard is accessible up top and there's plenty of room on the left side for papers and garbage. Hooray papers and garbage!

Building my own keyboard stand

I'm looking to build a two (or three) shelved keyboard stand. Right now I have a keyboard on an X-stand that I often use as a table and I have a small 25 key keyboard that sits in a box because I have nowhere to put it.

Buying a dedicated keyboard stand is way more expensive than you'd think and as it's not moving I don't need to be lightweight and foldable. I thought the Internet would be full of DIY keyboard stands but so far I've only found two:

  • A Keyboard Stand on the Cheap - this one's on the right track. I may just extend this out a bit for my purposes.
  • $5 Keyboard Stand - keyboard stand out of PVC pipe. I think I'd rather go wood for extra sturdiness and expandability.

Any others out there?